Doitchin Krastev, 36, most recently of Caldwell, Idaho, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of passport fraud. Krastev is scheduled to be sentenced before the Honorable James A. Redden on January 18, 2011, at 10 a.m.

In the plea agreement, Krastev admitted that he is a citizen of the Republic of Bulgaria, and not a native or citizen of the United States. In 1996, Krastev applied for a copy of the birth certificate of Jason Robert Evers for the purpose of assuming a new identity in the United States, after learning that Evers had been murdered in 1982 at the age of three. Also in 1996, Krastev applied for and obtained a Social Security number in the name of Jason Robert Evers. In 2002, he used the Evers name, Social Security number, and date of birth to apply for a United States passport, and in his application he falsely represented that he was a United States citizen. In 2008, he used the Evers name and Social Security Number to apply for a promotion to regional manager at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Krastev’s identity theft was discovered as part of “Operation Death Match,” a program of the United States Diplomatic Security Service that compares passport applications and state death certificates.

“The devastation suffered by the Evers family when they lost their baby boy to a murderer in 1982 was compounded when they learned around the time of the murderer’s parole hearing this year that a stranger had been living his life here in Oregon under their boy’s stolen identity,” said Dwight C. Holton, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Identity theft is a serious crime that has real victims, and real consequences.”

"The U.S. passport and visa are two of the most coveted travel documents in the world. There are foreign nationals who fraudulently acquire U.S. passports and visas to carry out criminal activities, including terrorism, inside our borders. These crimes threaten the national security of the United States, plain and simple," said Pat Durkin, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field office for the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.

The plea agreement contemplates a sentence of 24 months imprisonment. Krastev agreed as part of the plea agreement to meet with family members of the late Jason Robert Evers, to apologize to them, and to answer their questions.

This investigation was conducted by the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie Beckerman.